Forced CriminalityArchive 2008–2016

Forced Criminality in Woodico Court, Houston, Texas (2010)

A forced criminality case from 2010 in Woodico Court, Houston, Texas, United States.

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Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?

What happened

Harris County SO received information about illegal aliens being held against their will. Deputies found 2 females. One had been smuggled into the US for $2500. Defendants were recruiting illegals from Mexico, paying their smuggling fee, and forcing the aliens to work off the debt by selling pirated CDs and DVDs. The victims lived with the defendants and were assaulted, threatened, and intimidated with threatening phone calls to their families in Mexico.

Response and intervention

Harris County Sheriff's office, the Texas Attorney General's office, the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance worked together on the investigation. The case was prosecuted by AUSAs Kebharu Smith, Ruben Perez, and Joe Magliolo. Defendants pled guilty on 4/22/11 for conspiring to force labor and conspiring to distribute pirated CDs and DVDs.

Nearby cases

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Sex Trafficking2009

Aldine, Texas, United States, 2009

United States US

HTRA conducted an investigation into reports that human trafficking involving prostitution and drug dealing were occurring at La Potra Bar on the 6100 block of Airline in Houston, TX. As a result, all four Honduran nationals were arrested in Oct 2009 and charged by criminal compliant with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. The fourth man from Mexico was charged with Alien Smuggling. All men plead guilty to the offense charged to them, accept the 46 year old male, who committed suicide while in federal custody pending charge for Human Trafficking. In the FBI press release, U.S. Attorney Moreno had this to say about this case: "Often, victims of human trafficking who are forced into prostitution or forced labor are also forced to endure living and working among alien smugglers and drug dealers. This case, in which five defendants were arrest for various criminal offenses, illustrates the dark world within which the human trafficking victims are forced to exist until rescued or until they can escape, but it also demonstrates our continued commitment to rescue the victims and to prosecute not only the human trafficker but other offenders as well."

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

Sex Trafficking2005

Houston, Texas, United States, 2005

United States US

Maximino "Chimino" Mondragon and 8 other traffickers worked with Walter Alexander Corea and his son Kerin Silva to smuggle over 120 women, mostly from Central America, into the Houston area and force them to work in brothels. Lorenza Reyes-Nunez, aka "La Comadre," was involved in the trafficking and forced abortions upon women who became pregnant. The others involved include Maximino Mondragon's brother Oscar Mondragon, half brother Victor Omar Lopez and the wives or ex-wives of the Mondragon brothers, Olga Mondragon and Maria Fuentes. They are from El Salvador and Honduras.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

CSEC2008

Houston, Texas, United States, 2008

United States US

The operation involved local law enforcement in 29 cities across the country working with the FBI, the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Houston police Officers Emma Rodriguez and Catherine Clogher, of Juvenile Division's sex crimes unit, helped arrest the two local men accused of being pimps to three teenage girls.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016